Baikal 2018

On the 18th March 2018, Phil Sturgeon and I completed a 634 km foot crossing of a frozen Lake Baikal, which is the oldest, largest volume and deepest (up to 1.6km!) freshwater lake in the world. It contains 22% of the world’s freshwater.

We took 19 days to complete the crossing from Listvyanka in the South, to Severobaikalsk in the North.

Our supporters

For clothing, equipment and nutritional support we were supported by these excellent companies. Click on the images to find out more about them.

I’m pleased to support Ash and Phil on this expedition to cross Lake Baikal. The area is remote and challenging, and small independent trips such as this are important to raise the aspirations of young people today, and keep alive a sense of adventure

The team

We were a two man team (Ash Routen, 31 and Phil Sturgeon, 50). Phil and I previously completed a crossing of the Finnmark plateau, Norway, in February 2016.

What route did you take?

We took a variety of gadgets with us including a satellite phone and a GPS locator beacon (SPOT). You’ll can view our GPS tracks here via Followmychallenge.com

Route across Baikal (reoriented 90 degrees)

Where can I find out more?

You can read about our planning and training progress on my blog or via some of the expedition media coverage here.